SIG Sauer and Noble Edict had made substantial progress in securing Ponyville. The mayor and City Council were moved to a bunker located beneath Town Hall. All the civilians had been evacuated from the building and moved to their houses. There were some residents and tourists who were staying on the outskirts of the town, such as the Apple family. The Royal Guard escorted these individuals to their dwellings and aided them in fortifying their shelters. Then they took posts all along the perimeter of the town.
While the Royal Guard had been tasked with keeping the inhabitants of Ponyville safe, Noble Edict's staff was responsible for locking the town down. They had instructions not to let anypony enter or leave the town without being searched and cleared first. At the center of it all, SIG Sauer was the one regulating the actions of the security forces. Currently, he was in the town square speaking with an officer who supervised all passage to and from the district. He asked her "Has the train depot been closed off?"
"Yes, sir," the officer informed him, "As per your orders, we also sent out a priority-one telegram to all the other stations across the country. We've alerted them to a nationwide shutdown of the railroads. It will remain in effect until the Sun rises."
"Very good," commented the pine green stallion, "Now that you've handled that, I'd like you to conduct an inspection of the town's perimeter. Look for any gaps in the Royal Guard's blockade. If anypony new happens to arrive, redirect them to the custom house. The ponies there should be able to accommodate them once they've been examined."
The officer acknowledged this command and departed from the area. SIG Sauer was left by himself for a couple minutes, but technically, he was not alone. At any one moment, at least half a dozen of the Royal Guard and Ponyville's security officers could be found on every street. Many of them were balancing several errands at once, so very few of them could afford to remain stationary.
Noble Edict had gone back to Town Hall to acquire a certain list from the assessor's office. This list was a record of the town's population; it contained the names of everypony who either lived in Ponyville or planned to stay there during the Celebration. Noble Edict had proposed using this list to make certain that nopony other than Princess Celestia was missing.
Amidst all the activity in the town square, SIG Sauer spotted Noble Edict approaching him from the direction of Town Hall. She was carrying a very large rolled-up scroll on her shoulder. When she reached him, SIG Sauer asked "Is that the entire roster?"
She nodded her head and stated "I apologize that it took so long. It's against regulation to remove the original version of the populace manifest from Town Hall; only duplicates can be taken out. The assessor wasn't in his office; he and his family were moved to their house. So I had to make a copy of the list myself."
"Well, I appreciate the effort," SIG Sauer informed her, "What's really important is that we have the list. Now we can use it to ascertain that everypony is accounted for."
"How would you like to proceed, sir?" inquired the red mare.
"There are many ways we can do this," SIG Sauer noted, "However, the simplest would be to divide the list up into different sections and then distribute those sections to the units who are stationed in the corresponding districts. That way we can take attendance everywhere at once."
"I'll get my people right on that," Noble Edict approved, "By the way, SIG, there's something I need to talk to you about."
"What is it, Noble?" he asked in interest.
"As you may recall, I assigned an agent to go with Gold Streak to the embassy," Noble Edict apprised him, "I encountered that agent at Town Hall a couple hours ago when I first began copying the list. He told me that the ambassador is with Bellerophon, and that the two of them have gone after 'Nightmare Moon's bane.'"
When she saw the look of mild confusion on SIG Sauer's face, Noble quickly added in "The ambassador instructed him to use that phrase. But he has no idea what it means. Neither do I."
"They must be going after the Elements of Harmony," SIG Sauer hypothesized, "If so, that's probably a good thing. They would not have chosen to go looking for the Elements unless they actually had a reliable lead on their whereabouts. Now that they're out searching for them, they must be reasonably confident that they have the correct location."
"Let's hope they're right," Noble Edict pronounced, "For everypony's sake, especially theirs. The agent mentioned that as he left the embassy, the two stallions were heading towards the Everfree Forest."
"They're going to the Everfree Forest by themselves?" SIG Sauer assumed in surprise.
"Not according to the agent's testimony," Noble Edict replied, "Bellerophon told him that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had been at the library when he and Twilight Sparkle were there. Nopony's seen those six mares since they left Town Hall, so it's highly likely that they went with him and Gold Streak."
"Well, a company of eight is much better than a company of two," SIG Sauer professed, "Still, it may have been imprudent for them to go into the Everfree Forest without backup. What's worse, they didn't reveal where they were going. If we knew that, we could have at least sent them some assistance."
"I'm not too sure about that," Noble Edict theorized, "Even if we did know where the ambassador and the others went, I'm not certain we'd be able to help them. Our forces are spread thin enough as they are here. We cannot spare anypony."
"I suppose that's true," SIG Sauer admitted, "Oh, well. Gold Streak and Bellerophon know how to deal with danger, Twilight's very good with magic, and most of the other mares seemed capable of defending themselves. As long as they're careful, they should be alright."
"I'm inclined to agree," Noble Edict thought aloud.
The red mare was about to leave the area to gather her staff and divvy up the populace manifest. Right before she could move, a voice called out from down the block "Noble! Noble! Miss Edict!"
Noble Edict and SIG Sauer turned towards the source and saw a young stallion running towards them. When he was about ten feet away, Noble enquired "What is it? Is everything alright?"
"No, I do not believe so," the stallion replied. He was about to explain what he meant by this statement, but he gave SIG Sauer a suspicious look, as if he had just noticed the pine green Unicorn was there. He asked inquisitively "Who might I ask are you?"
"This is SIG Sauer," Noble Edict answered for her colleague, "He works for the Canterlot Royalty. SIG, this is Dense Miasma. He's one of the three volunteers I assigned to watch over that ball of energy I encountered the other day."
SIG Sauer gave a nod of confirmation towards the younger stallion. Dense Miasma returned the gesture, albeit somewhat hesitantly. Then he disclosed "That's why I'm here. The energy sphere; it's… changed."
"What do you mean 'changed?'" asked Noble Edict in perplexity.
"A short time ago, it grew in size by about twenty-five percent," Dense Miasma explicated, "An inscription appeared near the base of it, too. We couldn't make any sense of it, so we thought it best to bring this directly to you."
"Alright, thank you for coming to me with this," Noble Edict said graciously. After a brief pause, she remarked "Since you came alone, I presume that Petal Picker and Soapstone are still with the sphere?"
"Yeah, we didn't want to leave the sphere unattended, in case it continued to change," Dense Miasma claimed, "So we decided that only one of us would leave. We agreed on me because I'm the fastest runner. However, Petal Picker and Soapstone are expecting me to return soon. We shouldn't keep them waiting for too long. I would appreciate it if you came back with me."
"That's not possible right now," Noble Edict notified the young stallion, "An emergency situation has just come up. Princess Celestia and the Sun are missing, and the individual responsible for their disappearance is at large and extremely dangerous. Because of that, I need to stay here and keep Ponyville safe."
"So you can't afford to send anypony at all?" Dense Miasma assumed.
"No, I'm afraid not," she confirmed apologetically.
Truthfully, Noble was somewhat interested in this subject, but she did not consider it to be of high-value. On the other hoof, SIG Sauer found one particular detail of it intriguing. He stepped up to Dense Miasma and queried "When exactly did this happen?"
"At approximately six o'clock," the younger stallion recounted, "Say, wasn't that the same time the Sun was supposed to rise?"
"Yes, it was," SIG Sauer informed him, "That was also the time that Nightmare Moon showed up."
"Nightmare Moon?" Dense Miasma remarked, "A mythical creature is behind all this?"
"That's correct," stated the pine green Unicorn, "She showed up in Town Hall and threatened to permanently blot out the Sun. We tried to apprehend her, but she transformed into a cluster of dark blue energy and bolted out of the neighborhood."
"Really?" Dense Miasma stated in fascination. SIG Sauer nodded his head, and then Dense proclaimed "Not ten minutes after the energy sphere grew in size, another cloud of energy zipped by over our heads. It appeared to be composed of the same type of energy you just described."
"It must have been Nightmare Moon," SIG Sauer concluded. He turned to the red mare and proposed "Noble, I think we should investigate this."
"Sir, with all due respect, that's out of the question," Noble Edict objected, "Our security forces have enough on their hooves already. All the Royal Guard and everypony on my detail are much too busy. We cannot afford to lose even one of them."
"Very well," SIG Sauer coincided, "Then I'll go."
"What?" Noble almost shouted.
SIG held up his hoof to stop her and told her "Before you protest, I suggest that you view this scenario in perspective. You and I have the same job: to maintain order and peace. We can only effectively accomplish that for so long by staying here. We both know that Nightmare Moon has no interest in one lone town. She's been waiting for an entire millennium to return to Equestria; she must have developed other plans. It's our duty to stop her from carrying out those plans. In order to do that, we must delve further into the heart of all this. We can start by investigating the energy sphere. It cannot be a coincidence that Nightmare Moon passed over it ten minutes after it expanded in size."
As resistant as Noble Edict was to SIG Sauer's idea, she could not deny that he was on to something. While staying in Ponyville and keeping the residents safe would prevent a panic from arising, it would do very little to bring back either the Sun or Celestia. Aside from that, SIG Sauer had authority over her. If he decided to leave the town, the most she could do to stop him was protest. She could not order him to stay. Plus, she knew this town much better than he did. It occurred to Noble that Ponyville only really needed one person to oversee the safety of the public. Between the two of them, she was better qualified.
"Alright, sir," Noble Edict complied, "If you believe this energy cloud is worth investigating, go right ahead. But please, do not be gone for too long. Just give the sphere a quick inspection and come right back here."
"Understood," SIG Sauer affirmed.
"We'll do our best to be back here within an hour," Dense Miasma proclaimed.
Noble Edict took this statement into account. Then she watched as the two stallions left the area and headed towards the Everfree Forest. Once they vanished from her sight, Noble removed the scroll from her shoulder and went to disperse its contents amongst her staff.
…
At this point in time, it had been three hours since Bronze Star, Bellerophon, and their six female companions had gone searching for the Elements of Harmony. They had already ventured several miles into the Everfree Forest. On the upside, the old abandoned fortress was now within their line of sight. On the downside, making it this far had been anything but easy. The group had encountered many obstacles and dangers along the way.
When they first entered the Everfree Forest, the ponies had discussed everything they had already learned with each other that was relevant to their situation. Bronze Star discovered that there were six Elements of Harmony: honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty, and an unknown sixth one. In turn, he and Twilight Sparkle illuminated the others on the Shroud of Valor and how it had been used to protect the previous wielder of the Elements. There were also some additional facts that only Bellerophon knew, thanks to his extensive knowledge of Equestria's history. He was more than willing to share these bits of information with the others.
Shortly after they finished going over what they knew, the group continued marching on in silence for a while. At one point, Bronze Star abruptly doubled over and groaned in mild discomfort. The others quickly came to his sides to make certain he was not hurt.
"Are you alright, sir?" the palomino stallion asked anxiously.
"Yeah, I'm quite well, Bellerophon," Bronze Star responded, wincing slightly and clutching the area between his left front and hind legs. After a moment, he stood up straight and divulged "My side is just a little sore. I landed on it pretty hard when Nightmare Moon tossed me off that balcony."
"Wow, just a 'little' sore?" Rainbow Dash uttered in amazement, "That's really something. I don't know anypony who can withstand that kind of pain. Except for me. And maybe Applejack."
"I suppose I should take that as a compliment, Rainbow," Applejack drily remarked. The cyan mare glared at her incredulously, as if to say "Seriously?" The orange mare then chuckled and commented "I'd hate to sound arrogant, but I suppose I can't deny that."
Fluttershy was standing next to Bronze Star when he had tripped. Since his back was turned to her, she could see the gaps in his uniform. She patted him on the shoulder and said "Ummm, excuse me, Gold, but are you aware that you have two large holes in the back of your jacket?"
Bronze Star realized she was referring to the openings for his wings. He had not been prepared for this question, but he was great at improvising. He turned to the yellow mare and casually informed her "Oh, yeah, I am aware. They're not just in my jacket; they're in my vest, too. Those have been there for a while. Happened when I was out exercising one morning. I've been meaning to have them repaired, but haven't gotten around to it yet."
"If you want, darling, I could sew those holes up for you whenever we get back to Ponyville," Rarity offered.
"I'd really appreciate that, as long as it's not any trouble," Bronze Star told her.
The white mare just smiled knowingly.
"But before we get back to Ponyville, we've got a country to save!" Pinkie Pie joyfully declared. She bounced further down the path and called over her shoulder "Come on, girls! And Gold and Bellerophon! Let's keep moving!"
The other ponies could not help but adore the pink mare's optimism. They followed her down the path in a straight line. Before long, Twilight Sparkle and Bronze Star were leading the group. When that happened, the lavender mare leaned over to the gold stallion and whispered into his ear "Nice save back there. I don't think they suspect a thing… 'Ambassador Streak.'"
The young prince smirked, nodded in agreement, and suggested "We should keep it that way."
Of course, a lingering bruise and the risk of the five Ponyville mares discovering Bronze Star's true identity were by far the least of the group's problems. Before long, they would encounter half a dozen perils and hindrances.
After traveling for a couple miles, Bronze Star gazed off into the distance and announced "I think we're nearing the edge of a cliff."
Bellerophon rose into the air to get a better view of the group's surroundings. He returned to the ground thirty seconds later and stated "You're right. The path ends about a hundred feet up ahead. We'll have to find a way down the mountain."
"That might be hard," Pinkie Pie remarked "Because we've got no idea where we're going."
"What are you talking about?" Bronze Star inquired as the group continued moving.
"Well, this is the first time we've set hoof in the Forest," Fluttershy revealed.
"So, none of you have been in here before?" Twilight Sparkle presumed.
"Ugh, Heavens no!" Rarity retorted, "Just look at it. It's dreadful!"
"And it ain't natural." Applejack supplemented, "Folk say it don't work the same as Equestria."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight Sparkle inquired in worry.
By this point, the group had reached the end of the path. They stopped for a moment to gaze over the cliff and search for an alternative route to the ground below. While they stood there, Bronze Star could have sworn he saw a cloud of mist sink into the grass
Rainbow Dash then emerged from the shadows and said ominously "Nopony knows. You know why?"
She was trying to play a practical joke on the others. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity appeared to be scared, but the others were unamused.
"Rainbow, quit it," Applejack stated in annoyance.
This did not stop the Pegasus. She slowly approached the three frightened mares and said in a dramatic tone "'Cause every pony who's ever come in… has never… come… OUT!"
Immediately after she said this, the ground had collapsed underneath them. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Bellerophon quickly rose into the air, but Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Bronze Star slid down the mountain in the rockslide.
The three winged ponies quickly rushed to save their companions. Rainbow Dash picked up Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy pulled Rarity to a halt. Bronze Star managed to recover on his own and jumped into the air. Bellerophon flew by and grabbed the young prince's extended front hooves.
Applejack wrapped her teeth around a sturdy branch to stop her fall. Twilight was the only one who slid all the way to the border of the mountain. When the farm pony saw this, she released her grip on the branch and went to Twilight's aid.
Twilight held on for dear life and begged Applejack to tell her what to do. The Earth Pony convinced her that the only way they would both survive would be if the Unicorn let go. Twilight was hesitant at first, but she complied with Applejack's suggestion.
She fell a considerable distance, but then Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy swooped in and intercepted her long before she reached the ground. She sighed in relief. Fluttershy's grip almost slipped for a moment, but she managed to hold on tight enough.
"Sorry, girls," Fluttershy said sincerely to Rainbow and Twilight, "I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two."
Bellerophon flew under the three mares, held out his front legs, and told the two winged mares "Here, let her go. I've got her."
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy released Twilight, and the large palomino stallion caught her. Due to his size and strength, he was easily able to carry the young mare by himself.
Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Bronze Star were already at the base at the mountain. Applejack used a series of small platforms to jump down to their level. Bellerophon transferred Twilight to the ground and landed next to the group, as did Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Now all eight ponies were back together.
On the plus side, they were still on the proper course to the abandoned fortress. However, the avalanche was just the first of the six unforeseen complications. The next one was a touch more hazardous; a wild manticore appeared. He was standing directly between them and the rest of the path. They had no choice but to get past him.
They employed several different tactics to achieve this goal. Rarity tried striking him down, Applejack tried subduing him, and Rainbow Dash tried disorienting him. None of these approaches worked. Bronze Star had a net in his supply pack. He proposed luring the beast into it so they could entrap him.
Bellerophon distracted the manticore while Pinkie and Twilight helped Bronze Star set up the net between two trees. Once it was in place, Bellerophon directed the creature towards the large mesh. The manticore was not very intelligent; he ran right into the net. However, the net was not strong enough to hold him. He managed cut through it as if it was made of threads.
The group then thought of overwhelming the manticore by closing in on him all at once. However, Fluttershy stopped them before they could surround the beast. Then, something interesting happened. The animal lover calmly approached the manticore, spoke softly to him, and removed a huge thorn from his paw. In response, the manticore picked up the much smaller Fluttershy and licked her mane affectionately. He stopped being hostile altogether and let the ponies pass. Shortly after, the thorn disappeared. The only remnant of it was the cloud of dark blue energy.
The group's third impediment was perhaps the most bizarre one. Even more bizarre was the way they resolved it. After travelling another mile, they entered a tightly-packed cluster of trees. They were so close together that not even the moonlight could get through. As such, the group had to walk in total darkness for a while. Bronze Star removed a torch from his supply pack, but when he lit it, he found that its range was somehow restricted to one feet in any direction. So he extinguished the flame and put the torch away to save it for later.
When the ponies were partway through the woods, a dark blue light glided by their hooves. Once it faded away, the nearby trees appeared to come to life. They glared at the ponies with countenances of malice and rage, and they looked as though they were about to attack.
Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash screamed in terror. Bellerophon stood around the mares protectively, as if to shield them. Bronze Star pulled a hatchet from his belt and eyed the trees closely. If any of them made a hostile gesture, he was prepared to defend his companions.
The trees seemed to be frozen in place, but Bronze Star was not taking any chances. He rushed toward the nearest tree and raised his hatchet into the air. However, just before he could strike, the sound of laughter filled the air. Everypony turned and saw Pinkie Pie guffawing at one of the trees.
Pinkie's actions deeply confused the other ponies. What she did next confused them even more: she burst into song. Ironically, the song was about chuckling when confronted with a daunting threat. Oddly enough, this seemed to be the solution. The others chuckled at the trees, and one-by-one, their malevolent appearances vanished. Once the song was over, all the mares were rolling on the ground laughing. Bronze Star and Bellerophon could not help but snicker as well. It had been a long time since either of the stallions had seen anything this humorous.
The fourth obstruction was only slightly less strange. The group encountered a lengthy river with an abnormally tumultuous tide. Swimming across it was out of the question. Bellerophon offered to fly everypony over the rapids, but the most he could carry was two at a time. The others did not like this idea; they were uncomfortable with splitting up the group before they knew what awaited them on the other side. Bronze Star had a rope in his supply pack and a grappling hook on his belt. He suggested tying the rope to the hook, tossing the hook across the water, and using the rope to ford the river. This might have worked, except that they had no idea how much space was between them and dry land. The rope might not have been long enough, or Bronze Star's throw may have been inadequate. Aside from that, the currents may have been too strong to resist.
Once they were out of ideas, they located the source of the problem. Further up the stream, a flamboyant serpent was flailing about in the water, sniveling hysterically. The ponies approached him and inquired as to what his problem was. He claimed that a purplish or dark blue cloud of smoke had sailed past him and severed half of his mustache. Now he felt disgraced.
Most of the ponies were generally unsympathetic to his grief, but Rarity stepped in and offered a way to remedy the dilemma. She removed on of his scales, sliced off most of her tail with it, and used her magic to attach it to the area above the serpent's upper lip. He was delighted by this and calmed down very quickly. Once the tide subsided, he allowed the ponies to use his body to cross the river.
Soon, the group arrived at a clearing. From there, Twilight managed to spot the abandoned fortress in the distance. It was less than a mile away. The magic student eagerly ran towards it; the others followed her close behind.
In her haste, Twilight had failed to notice that there was a gorge between them and the castle. She tripped over the ledge and almost tumbled down into the chasm, but Rainbow Dash grabbed her tail and pulled her back up.
Now the group came to their fifth determent, sixty feet of empty space. The Pegasi could easily traverse this distance, but the Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and the disguised Alicorn needed an alternative. From what they could see, the only way across the gorge was a bridge. The bridge had collapsed, but one end of it was still attached to the supports. It happened to be the end on the group's side of the canyon.
Bellerophon presented the same offer he made before; he was willing to carry everypony across the chasm. Although there was no water between the group and their target this time, there was a huge cluster of mist on the other side of the gorge. The other ponies did not want to divide the group up before they knew what was there. Besides, they figured it would be easier and less time-consuming to repair the bridge.
Rainbow Dash volunteered to do this job. She flew down to the hanging end of the bridge, picked it up, and transferred it to the supports on the other side. The others watched as she tied one of the ropes in place. She was about to tie the other one when she abruptly halted. She gazed around in all directions, as if she was expecting an ambush or something.
Bronze Star and the others watched her intently. At one point, she turned away from the bridge. Three mysterious figures appeared in front of her, and she appeared to have a conversation with them. The other seven ponies could not hear what she was saying or see who she was talking to, but she seemed to be engrossed. Thirty seconds later, Rainbow turned back to the bridge and picked up the other rope, but one of the figures stopped her.
Soon, Bronze Star and Twilight Sparkle saw that the three figures had dark blue manes. They called out to her in urgency. Suddenly, the mist shifted and blocked Rainbow Dash from the group's view. As this happened, Twilight implored the athletic pony not to listen to the imposters.
Bellerophon was about to fly across to assist Rainbow Dash, but Bronze Star stopped him. His reasoning was that he was concerned that those three figures might take Rainbow hostage if they tried to intervene. All they could do was wait.
Less than a minute later, the crooked bridge became level with the ground. Then the mist dissipated and revealed Rainbow Dash had successfully fixed the support. She was also on her own; the three figures had vanished. The other seven ponies crossed the bridge and joined her on the other side.
Three hours and ten miles after they first entered the Everfree Forest, the group was so very close to the abandoned fortress. However, they were not there just yet. Before they got there, they would have to overcome their sixth and most treacherous trial.
The eight ponies cautiously approached the dilapidated building. Right when the main entrance was practically within their grasp, they heard a strange rumbling sound. Soon after this, the ground beneath their hooves began to vibrate in a most interesting fashion. For one second, the ground shook. The next second, the shaking ceased. Then the ground shook again. Then it stopped. This pattern continued for a while, and the tremors became consistently stronger.
"Oh my gosh, it's an earthquake!" Pinkie Pie shrieked.
"No, it's not an earthquake!" Twilight countered, "If it was, the ground would be shaking without interruption!"
"Then what in tarnation is causing this?" Applejack demanded.
"The only explanation is that this tremor is artificially created," Twilight conjectured.
"It… it… it is," Fluttershy nervously stammered. The others turned to her and saw that her gaze was fixated on something above their heads. She slowly pointed in the same direction and yelled "Look out!"
The others quickly turned towards the source of the disturbance. When they saw what it was, the color almost drained from their faces. A twenty-foot ogre was approaching them. He was clad in rags and he held a five foot club covered in spikes.
He stopped in front of the ponies and gazed down at them, as if he was studying them. After twenty seconds of tense, deadly silence, the ogre roared in rage, lifted his club into the air, and charged towards the ponies.